Poonam Pandey and Sam Bombay slapped with ₹100 crore defamation lawsuit: Report

Actor-model Poonam Pandey and husband Sam Bombay are in legal trouble. According to a report by Times of India, the duo has been slapped with a defamation lawsuit to the tune of ₹100 crore over the fake death stunt that Poonam pulled earlier this month.

Lawsuit against Poonam Pandey

According to the publication, an individual called Faizan Ansari lodged a First Information Report (FIR) with the Kanpur police. In the FIR he claimed that both Poonam and Sam conspired to fake her death, trivialised the seriousness of cancer and manipulated the emotions of many. He requested that they both be arrested and produced at a Kanpur court.

“Poonam Pandey and her husband Sameer Bombay have fabricated a false conspiracy of death. Along with this, they have made a joke out of diseases like cancer. Poonam orchestrated the drama for publicity and played with the emotions of millions of Indians and the Bollywood film industry,” read a part of an FIR published by TOI. In the same report, Faizan Ansari also claimed that he’s filing a lawsuit against them for ₹100 crore.

The death hoax

For the unversed, on February 2, Poonam made headlines. when a post on her official Instagram handle claimed that she died from cervical cancer. Her manager also confirmed to publications that she had died. However, a day later, Poonam reappeared on Instagram saying that she had faked her own death to spread awareness about cervical cancer.

In an Instagram video, she said, “I am alive. I didn’t die of cervical cancer. Unfortunately, I can’t say that about those hundreds and thousands of women who have lost their lives because of cervical cancer.” She went on to talk about the disease. Sharing the video, Poonam wrote, “I feel compelled to share something significant with you all – I am here, alive. Cervical Cancer didn’t claim me, but tragically, it has claimed the lives of thousands of women who stemmed from a lack of knowledge on how to tackle this disease.”

The stunt was pulled off a day after it was announced that the union government intends to include the HPV vaccine for girls aged 9-14 in the country’s immunisation programme. All India Cine Workers also filed an FIR against Poonam for the stunt.